00:00:00.054 --> 00:00:02.304
(no audio)

00:00:14.097 --> 00:00:17.847
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:00:22.344 --> 00:00:26.094
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:00:31.857 --> 00:00:35.607
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:00:39.876 --> 00:00:43.626
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:00:50.036 --> 00:00:53.786
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:00:56.296 --> 00:01:00.046
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:01:04.187 --> 00:01:07.937
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:01:12.512 --> 00:01:16.262
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:01:18.403 --> 00:01:22.153
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:01:24.803 --> 00:01:28.553
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:01:31.761 --> 00:01:35.511
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:01:41.169 --> 00:01:44.919
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:02:20.619 --> 00:02:23.047
- [Narrator For Veteran] "We
have an old saying in Vietnam,

00:02:23.047 --> 00:02:25.360
"'When the enemy comes close to home,

00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.360
"'even the women must fight.'"

00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.817
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:02:30.817 --> 00:02:34.567
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:02:40.057 --> 00:02:43.087
"Our mother sang lullabies
about the women of old

00:02:43.087 --> 00:02:45.337
"riding on war elephants
against the Chinese.

00:02:46.687 --> 00:02:48.217
"Brave women lost their lives

00:02:48.217 --> 00:02:50.433
"to drive out the French imperialists.

00:02:51.667 --> 00:02:54.907
"Young people in Vietnam
enjoyed a time of peace

00:02:54.907 --> 00:02:56.437
"after Ho Chi Minh's armies

00:02:56.437 --> 00:03:00.157
"drove out the French forces in 1954.

00:03:00.157 --> 00:03:04.983
"We could marry, go to
school, study, enjoy life.

00:03:05.827 --> 00:03:09.367
"But after 1965, our country was divided

00:03:09.367 --> 00:03:11.826
"into two warring factions,

00:03:11.826 --> 00:03:15.576
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:03:18.427 --> 00:03:21.196
"and our lives changed forever."

00:03:21.196 --> 00:03:23.204
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:03:23.204 --> 00:03:28.204
(bombs exploding)
(women crying)

00:03:28.247 --> 00:03:33.247
(lyrics in foreign language)
(women crying)

00:03:33.764 --> 00:03:38.764
(dark music)
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:03:39.406 --> 00:03:43.156
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:03:47.478 --> 00:03:50.311
(enigmatic music)

00:03:54.194 --> 00:03:57.944
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:03:59.444 --> 00:04:03.194
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:04:08.135 --> 00:04:11.885
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:04:16.776 --> 00:04:19.609
(enigmatic music)

00:04:25.126 --> 00:04:28.793
(enigmatic music continues)

00:04:36.701 --> 00:04:40.343
(enigmatic music continues)

00:04:40.343 --> 00:04:42.030
- [Narrator For Veteran]
"Millions of Vietnamese women

00:04:42.030 --> 00:04:47.030
"fought the war from fields,
factories, and neighborhoods,

00:04:47.430 --> 00:04:50.547
"some in organized militia
units like (foreign word),

00:04:51.757 --> 00:04:54.213
"chief of the (foreign
word) Village Militia.

00:04:55.237 --> 00:04:58.440
"Our beloved feminist poet, Ho Xuan Huong,

00:04:58.440 --> 00:05:00.517
200 years ago left us a poem

00:05:00.517 --> 00:05:03.726
"called 'At the Chinese General's Tomb.'"

00:05:03.726 --> 00:05:05.767
(monotonal music)

00:05:05.767 --> 00:05:08.827
"I see it up there in
the corner of my eye,

00:05:08.827 --> 00:05:11.317
"the Chinese general's tomb.

00:05:11.317 --> 00:05:16.317
"If I could change my fate,
become a man of heroic deed,

00:05:16.387 --> 00:05:18.411
"couldn't I do better?"

00:05:18.411 --> 00:05:22.459
(somber music)
(bomb exploding)

00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:24.080
- [Female Veteran] It was a terrible year.

00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:27.120
My mother did not want
me to go to the front.

00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:31.020
But my two brothers had been
killed by American bombs.

00:05:31.020 --> 00:05:33.930
I wanted to avenge my family.

00:05:33.930 --> 00:05:37.860
I thought if men could fight, so could I.

00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:42.821
When my workplace called for
volunteers, I was ready to go.

00:05:42.821 --> 00:05:47.821
(somber music)
(machinery knocking)

00:05:47.902 --> 00:05:52.289
(door closing)
(somber music)

00:05:52.289 --> 00:05:57.289
(machinery knocking)
(somber music)

00:06:14.122 --> 00:06:16.987
- [Narrator For Veteran] "There
were 98 girls and 92 boys,

00:06:16.987 --> 00:06:19.477
"some just out of seventh grade.

00:06:19.477 --> 00:06:22.897
"On July 16th, 1965,

00:06:22.897 --> 00:06:27.007
"we left our families to join
our big family, Company 814,

00:06:27.007 --> 00:06:29.557
"to live and fight together.

00:06:29.557 --> 00:06:33.277
"After four days of practice,
we began our long march

00:06:33.277 --> 00:06:34.347
"to our destination."

00:06:36.403 --> 00:06:37.657
- [Narrator For Nguyen]
"We walked through valleys

00:06:37.657 --> 00:06:40.297
"where white butterflies
fluttered like huge ribbons

00:06:40.297 --> 00:06:41.737
"in the air.

00:06:41.737 --> 00:06:45.367
"Sometimes, we came
upon herds of elephants.

00:06:45.367 --> 00:06:48.577
"To the twitter of birds and
the shrieking of monkeys,

00:06:48.577 --> 00:06:50.197
"we followed the tracks of deer

00:06:50.197 --> 00:06:51.787
"through the immense wilderness

00:06:51.787 --> 00:06:53.673
"that seemed to have no boundary.

00:06:58.777 --> 00:07:01.207
"But the enemy would not let go of us,

00:07:01.207 --> 00:07:04.957
"even in these dark
recesses of the jungles."

00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:44.103
(car horns honking)

00:07:44.103 --> 00:07:47.436
(ambient street sounds)

00:07:48.300 --> 00:07:53.300
(chatter in foreign language)
(horns honking)

00:07:57.636 --> 00:08:01.469
(chatter in foreign language)

00:08:31.979 --> 00:08:34.229
(no audio)

00:09:42.174 --> 00:09:44.757
(somber music)

00:09:58.306 --> 00:10:00.889
(somber music)

00:10:26.237 --> 00:10:28.820
(somber music)

00:10:39.700 --> 00:10:42.283
(somber music)

00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:48.842
(somber music)

00:10:59.455 --> 00:11:02.038
(somber music)

00:11:08.746 --> 00:11:11.329
(somber music)

00:11:54.308 --> 00:11:56.891
(somber music)

00:12:24.380 --> 00:12:25.567
- [Narrator For Veteran]
"We loved the jungles,

00:12:25.567 --> 00:12:28.303
"our shelter from the American bombs."

00:12:28.303 --> 00:12:31.537
(enigmatic music)

00:12:31.537 --> 00:12:32.977
"But some of our group sickened

00:12:32.977 --> 00:12:36.937
"and some died from eating
poisonous plants and mushrooms.

00:12:36.937 --> 00:12:38.373
"We all got malaria.

00:12:41.767 --> 00:12:44.347
"The good rice and medicine
went to the regular soldiers

00:12:44.347 --> 00:12:46.863
"on the march to the
southern battlefields.

00:12:47.887 --> 00:12:50.913
"We sang songs to drown
out the sound of the bombs.

00:12:54.937 --> 00:12:56.737
"We held hands to guide the trucks

00:12:56.737 --> 00:12:59.047
"along the safe paths during the night:

00:12:59.047 --> 00:13:01.437
"our white blouses the beacons."

00:13:03.130 --> 00:13:05.713
(somber music)

00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.823
(somber music)

00:13:15.730 --> 00:13:18.313
(somber music)

00:13:24.055 --> 00:13:26.638
(somber music)

00:13:39.571 --> 00:13:43.717
"We worked as engineers,
sappers, road builders.

00:13:43.717 --> 00:13:46.597
"And we made coffins and buried the dead.

00:13:46.597 --> 00:13:49.147
"Men and women worked as equals.

00:13:49.147 --> 00:13:51.637
"We carried AK-47s,

00:13:51.637 --> 00:13:54.487
"told to stand up and shoot at the planes,

00:13:54.487 --> 00:13:57.097
"to tend to our own wounds.

00:13:57.097 --> 00:13:59.317
"The truck drivers and
the regular soldiers

00:13:59.317 --> 00:14:02.774
"on the move to the southern
battlefields came first."

00:14:02.774 --> 00:14:05.357
(somber music)

00:14:09.371 --> 00:14:10.987
- [Narrator For Nguyen]
"It was a mournful day.

00:14:10.987 --> 00:14:15.987
"Company 339 included an
all-female squad of 12 young girls

00:14:17.347 --> 00:14:20.467
"led by a young woman
named Nguyen Thi Mau.

00:14:20.467 --> 00:14:22.387
"During a fierce bombing attack,

00:14:22.387 --> 00:14:26.017
"they lost five members,
all in their teens.

00:14:26.017 --> 00:14:28.807
"They buried them right
on the side of the road.

00:14:28.807 --> 00:14:32.017
"During their meals
later, the surviving girls

00:14:32.017 --> 00:14:34.537
"continued to set out 12 tin plates

00:14:34.537 --> 00:14:37.867
"as though the five
girls were still alive.

00:14:37.867 --> 00:14:40.917
"And they took on the workload
of the dead comrades."

00:14:43.695 --> 00:14:45.007
- [Narrator For Veteran]
"We buried our comrades

00:14:45.007 --> 00:14:47.317
"along the roads where they fell.

00:14:47.317 --> 00:14:50.583
"Only the regular soldiers
rest in the cemeteries.

00:14:51.487 --> 00:14:55.117
"Some of us tried to go back
to find and bury our dead

00:14:55.117 --> 00:14:57.787
"because unburied dead haunt the living

00:14:57.787 --> 00:15:00.127
"until they are put to rest.

00:15:00.127 --> 00:15:04.537
"But over 300,000 souls are
still missing in action,

00:15:04.537 --> 00:15:06.487
"and most of us can't afford the journey

00:15:06.487 --> 00:15:08.904
"back into the battlefields."

00:15:24.144 --> 00:15:26.727
(somber music)

00:15:33.109 --> 00:15:36.452
(somber music)

00:16:08.147 --> 00:16:13.147
- (interviewer speaking
in foreign language)

00:16:13.401 --> 00:16:15.984
(somber music)

00:16:20.178 --> 00:16:23.660
- (interviewer speaking
in foreign language)

00:16:23.660 --> 00:16:27.462
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:16:27.462 --> 00:16:31.379
(speaking in foreign language)

00:16:32.431 --> 00:16:34.707
(speaking in foreign language)

00:16:34.707 --> 00:16:37.377
- (interviewer speaking
in foreign language)

00:16:37.377 --> 00:16:41.365
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:16:41.365 --> 00:16:45.282
(speaking in foreign language)

00:16:47.005 --> 00:16:50.922
(speaking in foreign language)

00:16:55.150 --> 00:16:59.504
(speaking in foreign language)

00:16:59.504 --> 00:17:03.421
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.902
(somber music)

00:17:11.650 --> 00:17:16.175
(chatter in foreign language)

00:17:16.175 --> 00:17:20.944
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:17:20.944 --> 00:17:24.861
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:26.887 --> 00:17:30.804
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:31.704 --> 00:17:35.621
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:37.017 --> 00:17:40.934
(speaking in foreign language)

00:17:43.133 --> 00:17:46.966
(chatter in foreign language)

00:17:48.479 --> 00:17:52.031
(women speaking in foreign language)

00:17:52.031 --> 00:17:56.448
(women speaking in foreign language)

00:17:59.118 --> 00:18:03.035
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:04.584 --> 00:18:08.501
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:14.236
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:16.731 --> 00:18:21.245
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:21.245 --> 00:18:23.009
- (interviewer speaking
in foreign language)

00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:27.092
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:18:29.015 --> 00:18:32.932
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:34.632 --> 00:18:37.980
(speaking in foreign language)

00:18:37.980 --> 00:18:40.410
- [Narrator] Vietnamese
women have one sacred duty

00:18:40.410 --> 00:18:44.733
above all, to bear children
to continue the family line.

00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:49.410
Women who remain barren
take a terrible chance,

00:18:49.410 --> 00:18:51.990
destined to live and die alone

00:18:51.990 --> 00:18:54.660
with no one to care for them in old age

00:18:54.660 --> 00:18:56.978
or honor their spirits after death.

00:18:56.978 --> 00:19:00.814
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:19:00.814 --> 00:19:05.433
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:05.433 --> 00:19:09.350
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:10.734 --> 00:19:15.294
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:15.294 --> 00:19:19.211
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:21.463 --> 00:19:25.576
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:25.576 --> 00:19:28.268
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:28.268 --> 00:19:32.185
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:34.117 --> 00:19:37.084
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:37.084 --> 00:19:40.025
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:40.025 --> 00:19:44.308
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:44.308 --> 00:19:48.299
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:48.299 --> 00:19:50.732
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:50.732 --> 00:19:54.649
(speaking in foreign language)

00:19:56.140 --> 00:20:00.865
(speaking in foreign language)

00:20:00.865 --> 00:20:03.578
(peaceful music)

00:20:03.578 --> 00:20:05.587
- [Narrator For Veteran]
"We signed on for one year.

00:20:05.587 --> 00:20:07.297
"But most of us stayed in the jungles

00:20:07.297 --> 00:20:11.497
"as long as our health held
out, some for 10 years.

00:20:11.497 --> 00:20:15.547
"Most of us returned too
old or too sick to marry,

00:20:15.547 --> 00:20:18.531
"our families too poor to take us back."

00:20:18.531 --> 00:20:21.012
(peaceful music)

00:20:21.012 --> 00:20:25.207
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:20:25.207 --> 00:20:28.177
"Our government was too poor to help us,

00:20:28.177 --> 00:20:31.798
"so we survived as best we could, again."

00:20:31.798 --> 00:20:35.548
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:20:41.081 --> 00:20:44.831
(lyrics in foreign language)

00:20:46.179 --> 00:20:49.444
- (interviewer speaking
in foreign language)

00:20:49.444 --> 00:20:53.671
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:20:53.671 --> 00:20:58.138
(speaking in foreign language)

00:20:58.138 --> 00:21:02.055
(speaking in foreign language)

00:21:03.412 --> 00:21:05.879
(speaking in foreign language)

00:21:05.879 --> 00:21:08.626
(horns honking in background)

00:21:08.626 --> 00:21:13.301
- (speaking in foreign language)

00:21:13.301 --> 00:21:17.218
(speaking in foreign language)

00:21:18.967 --> 00:21:22.884
(speaking in foreign language)

00:21:27.773 --> 00:21:28.606
- [Narrator For Veteran]
"We were neighbors

00:21:28.606 --> 00:21:29.887
"in the Tu Liem District

00:21:29.887 --> 00:21:31.747
"when we went out to
fight and help each other.

00:21:31.747 --> 00:21:36.273
"Now, every year, we have a
reunion organized by Thi Mau.

00:21:37.327 --> 00:21:40.267
"She keeps track of us,
to tell us who has died

00:21:40.267 --> 00:21:41.433
"and to help the sick.

00:21:42.347 --> 00:21:47.347
(speaker in background
speaking in foreign language)

00:21:48.337 --> 00:21:51.967
"She collects funds to
help our poorest members,

00:21:51.967 --> 00:21:54.281
"even though we have little to spare."

00:21:54.281 --> 00:21:58.077
(speaker in background
speaking in foreign language)

00:21:58.077 --> 00:22:02.160
(chattering in foreign language)

00:22:14.199 --> 00:22:17.116
(melancholy music)

00:22:29.050 --> 00:22:32.883
(melancholy music and vocals)

00:22:44.336 --> 00:22:48.169
(melancholy music and vocals)

00:22:59.764 --> 00:23:03.597
(melancholy music and vocals)

00:23:13.761 --> 00:23:17.594
(melancholy music and vocals)

00:23:21.804 --> 00:23:24.054
(no audio)

00:23:34.458 --> 00:23:37.291
(inspiring music)

00:23:49.232 --> 00:23:52.065
(inspiring music)

00:24:04.690 --> 00:24:07.523
(inspiring music)

00:24:20.174 --> 00:24:23.007
(inspiring music)

00:24:30.990 --> 00:24:33.823
(inspiring music)

00:24:47.806 --> 00:24:50.639
(inspiring music)

00:25:05.388 --> 00:25:08.221
(inspiring music)

00:25:20.620 --> 00:25:23.953
(inspiring music fades)

00:25:29.663 --> 00:25:31.913
(no audio)